Nighttime Birds

The concept for my paintings start as entirely abstract doodles. In fact, I actually close my eyes and make some scribble marks for about 30 seconds and then begin to darken and shade those scribbles. Sometimes an image begins to form. This particular image began to look like a bat so I put it in an evening setting. The name is actually from one of my favorite bands, The Gathering. One of their albums was entitled Nighttime Birds. This painting has absolutely nothing to do with that album but that name felt to be such a great fit and that band has been such a creative influence for me over the last 15 years, both for music and art, that I wanted to use it for this painting. This painting is not framed but the sides of the canvas are painted so a frame is not required (I personally prefer them that way). It can simply be hung on the wall as is with a small trim nail. It is coated with a gloss finish varnish. This painting was completed on February 4, 2014.

Nathan Holly

I create abstract oil paintings using techniques that draw largely on the wet on wet technique made popular by Bob Ross. This influence can be seen especially in the backgrounds. The abstract concepts are placed and created in a more realistic environment. The focal object(s) are created with textures such as rocky surfaces or smooth organic shapes with an attention to lighting and shading that can sometimes be absent from abstract paintings. I also tend to work in definitive color schemes such as reds, blues, browns, etc.

My interest in art started at an early age, as long as I can remember to be honest. I’ve always had a passion to create which is likely what lead me to my career as a mechanical engineer where I am the inventor on 2 patents with 2 more pending. This passion to create also led to my attempt to become a musician where I created 3 short, 6 song solo albums.

For those with Twitter, I'll post some pics of in progress paintings if you are interested.twitter.com/NathanPHolly